A
Beginner’s View on a DSLR Camera
Erika Joyce G. de Luna
2010 – 06190
DSLR camera and lenses
owned
Photography “came from the two Greek words photo and graph which literally means ‘writing with light’” (Sagers &
Patterson, 2010). Basically, “photography is a method of recording an image”
(Ang, 2009). Since the discovery of the camera, “photography was being used for
police filing, war reporting, military reconnaissance, pornography,
encyclopaedic documentation, family albums, postcards, anthropological records,
sentimental moralising, inquisitive robing, aesthetic effects, news reporting,
and formal portraiture” (Berger, 1991, p.48). It was that time when camera was
said to be an “invention as a gadget for the elite” (Berger, 1991, p. 48). Yet,
with the camera being more available to the masses, from camera phones to film
camera to digital cameras, photography as a means of recording images changed. From
its typical use of taking images on special occasions such as a daughter’s
college graduation, its function as a way of recording moments has become more
popular especially with today’s interaction with social networking sites with
pictures being posted online—from class pictures, to graduation pictures, and
to what people refer to today as “selfie” (Baron, 2013).
I
was high school when I first encountered the DSLR or the Digital Single Lens
Reflex camera. It was then that I got interested with photography which made me
want to buy a DSLR camera while taking into consideration that we also were
expected to submit a “professional-looking photograph” as a requirement for
that class. As a previous user of a point-and-shoot camera, a DSLR camera is
heavier and larger, and more importantly, pricier. Yet, I must say that a DSLR
has a lot more to offer, with the array of features and settings this type of
camera has. One of the strengths is the better image quality it can produce.
This was said to be “due to the large image sensors and faster shutter speed
DSLR cameras” have (Rowse, n.d). Another strength I believe is its adaptability
in the sense that it can be fitted with various types of lenses of your choice,
ranging from the normal lens to long lens to telephoto lens, depending on what you
think would suit your need. Lastly, it being said to be “designed in such a way that it is
assumed that the photographer using it will want to control their own settings”
(Rowse, n.d.). With such a camera, you have control over the ISO, aperture,
zoom, and a lot more camera settings.
Having
an interest with photography made me look for a camera that would best suit my
photography activities, from taking photos on holidays, on parties, on travels,
or even on moments when something just captured my eye that I really had to
take a photo of it. As a beginner, I still have a lot more to know and explore
when it comes to using DSLR cameras to be able to use it more to its potential
and extent. But so far, I think owning a DSLR camera is a good choice and
investment, with it being able to produce high quality images, adaptable as it
can be used with other lenses and accessories with the photographer’s choice,
and lastly, designed to be manually controlled to give the photographer more
control over the picture. I may be a beginner but, I believe that when taking
photographs, we do not just take photographs just because we want to, but
because there is something at that moment that you want to capture and to
remember, be it a person, a place, an object or just a landscape. And with
photography as a way of recording images, I want to be able to capture such
moment of life beautifully which is possible with such a camera.
Sample work using DSLR camera
Sample work using DSLR
camera
References:
Ang, T. (2009). Fundamentals of photography. New York: Octopus
Publishing Group Limited.
Baron, D. (2013). A portrait of
the selfie. Accessed from http://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/100386. March 7,
2014.
Berger, J. (1991). Uses of
photography. About Looking. New York: Vintage International Books.
Sagers,
S. & Patterson, R. (2010). History of
photography. Retrieved from http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/4-H_Photography_2010-01pr.pdf.
March 7, 2014.
Rowse,
D. (n.d.). Should you buy a DSLR or point
and shoot digital camera? Accessed from http://digital-photography-school.com/should-you-buy-a-dslr-or-point-and-shoot-digital-camera.
March 2, 2014.
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